Durability Assessment of ETICS: Comparative Evaluation of Different Insulating Materials

The External Thermal Insulation Composite System (ETICS) is a common cladding technology that is widely used thanks to its well-known advantages. Despite previous studies dealing with ETICS durability in real-building case studies or involving accelerated ageing tests in climatic chambers, little progress has been made in the knowledge of the long-term durability of the system. In order to realize optimized maintenance plans for this component, the durability of the whole system, and of the most-used insulating materials for the ETICS (i.e., cork, polyurethane, rock wool, glass wool, grey EPS, and fiberfill wood), has been investigated. Based on previous experiments on ageing cycles, different climatic chambers were used to accelerate performance decay by simulating natural outdoor exposure in order to assess different physical and thermal characteristics (thermal transmittance, decrement factor, time shift, water absorption, thermal resistance, and conductivity). Recorded trends show that materials with lower thermal conductivity exhibit lower performance decay, and vice versa. The durability of the ETICS with different insulating materials (as the only variable in the different samples) was evaluated in order to quantify service life and then correctly plan maintenance interventions. Life-cycle assessment must take into account service life and durability for each material of the system. A higher durability of insulating materials allows for the execution of less maintenance interventions, with the loss of less performance over time. This study shows the physical and thermal behavior of the ETICS during its service life, comparing the differences induced by the most-used insulating materials. As a result of accelerated ageing cycles, the analyzed ETICS reveals a low grade of decay and measured performances show little degradation; for thermal conductivity, differences between the measured and the declared conductivities by technical datasheet were observed.

Noise as a Criterion for Designating Sanitary Protection Zones of Traffic Arteries

The article is devoted to the study of a possibility of designating the boundaries of sanitary zones (distancing) for traffic arteries outside settlements within the right-of-way.The study was conducted regarding the current Russian laws, projects of possible changes in legislation and draft amendments. It offers definitions of the right-of-way and of sanitary zone and highlights topics that have not yet been regulated.At the same time, the research methods are of universal character and after introducing other regulatory parameters may be applied for similar research in other countries as well.Calculations and field studies allowed to find that within the railway right-of-way and with the existing train traffic intensity, equivalent continuous sound pressure level in aggregate does not exceed the established maximum permissible level of 80dBA for personnel performing their labour functions within the railway rightof-way.A growth in the Leq/LAeq on the right-of-way from 80,0 to 95,0 dBA may lead to an increase in the hazard class (subclass).An analysis of the actual results of a special assessment of working conditions at JSC Russian Railways showed in the vast majority of cases the acceptability of working conditions evaluated according to noise factor measured at the workplaces of employees working during full or part-time shift on the right-of-way. Hazardous working conditions at the level of some subclasses for certain professions (operator of track measurement, railway track worker) arise rather due to indicators of severity of the labour process.

Ion-shift reagent binding energy and the shift-mass correlation in ion mobility spectrometry

Ion mobility spectrometry is widely used for the detection of illegal substances and explosives in airports, ports, custom, some stations and many other important places. This task is usually complicated by false positives caused by overlapping the target peaks with that of interferents, commonly associated with samples of interest. Shift reagents (SR) are species that selectively change ion mobilities through adduction with analyte ions when they are introduced in IMS instruments. This characteristic can be used to discriminate false positives because the interferents and illegal substances respond differently to SR depending on the structure and size of analytes and their interaction energy with SR. This study demonstrates that ion mobility shifts upon introduction of SR depend, not only on the ion masses, but on the interaction energies of the ion:SR adducts. In this study, we introduced five different SRs using ESI-IMS-MS to study the effect of the interaction energy and size on mobility shifts. The mobility shifts showed a decreasing trend as the molecular weight increased for the series of compounds ethanolamine, valinol, serine, threonine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, tributylamine, tryptophan, desipramine, and tribenzylamine. It was proved that the decreasing trend was partially due to the inverse relation between the mobility and drift time and hence, the shift in drift time better reflects the pure effect of SR on the mobility of analytes. Yet the drift time shift exhibited a mild decrease with the mass of ions. Valinol pulled out from this trend because it had a low binding energy interaction with all the SR and, consequently, its clusters were short-lived. This short lifetime produced fewer collisions against the buffer gas and a drift time shorter compared to those of ions of similar molecular weight. Analyte ion:SR interactions were calculated using Gaussian. IMS with the introduction of SR could be the choice for the free-interferents detection of illegal drugs, explosives, and biological and warfare agents. The suppression of false positives could facilitate the transit of passengers and cargos, rise the confiscation of illicit substances, and save money and distresses due to needless delays. Keywords: Adduction, ion mobility spectrometry, mass spectrometry, shift reagent, valinol, buffer gas modifier

Reconstructive Reservoir Computing to Detect Anomaly in Time-series Signals

We propose reconstructive reservoir computing (RRC) for anomaly detection working for time-series signals. This paper investigates its fundamental properties with experiments employing echo state networks (ESNs). The RRC model is a reconstructor to replicate a normal input time-series signal with no delay or a certain delay (delay ≥ 0). In its anomaly detection process, we evaluate instantaneous reconstruction error defined as the difference between input and output signals at each time. Experiments with a sound dataset from industrial machines demonstrate that the error is low for normal signals while it becomes higher for abnormal ones, showing successful anomaly detection. It is notable that the RRC models’ behavior is very different from that of conventional anomaly detection models, that is, those based on forecasting (delay < 0). The error of the proposed reconstructor is explicitly lower than that of a forecaster, resulting in superior distinction between normal and abnormal states. We show that the RRC model is effective over a large range of reservoir parameters. We also illustrate the distribution of the output weights optimized through a training to discuss their roles in the reconstruction. Then, we investigate the influence of the neuronal leaking rate and the delay time shift amount on the transient response and the reconstruction error, showing high effectiveness of the reconstructor in anomaly detection. The proposed RRC will play a significant role for anomaly detection in the present and future sensor network society

Reconstructive Reservoir Computing to Detect Anomaly in Time-series Signals

We propose reconstructive reservoir computing (RRC) for anomaly detection working for time-series signals. This paper investigates its fundamental properties with experiments employing echo state networks (ESNs). The RRC model is a reconstructor to replicate a normal input time-series signal with no delay or a certain delay (delay ≥ 0). In its anomaly detection process, we evaluate instantaneous reconstruction error defined as the difference between input and output signals at each time. Experiments with a sound dataset from industrial machines demonstrate that the error is low for normal signals while it becomes higher for abnormal ones, showing successful anomaly detection. It is notable that the RRC models’ behavior is very different from that of conventional anomaly detection models, that is, those based on forecasting (delay < 0). The error of the proposed reconstructor is explicitly lower than that of a forecaster, resulting in superior distinction between normal and abnormal states. We show that the RRC model is effective over a large range of reservoir parameters. We also illustrate the distribution of the output weights optimized through a training to discuss their roles in the reconstruction. Then, we investigate the influence of the neuronal leaking rate and the delay time shift amount on the transient response and the reconstruction error, showing high effectiveness of the reconstructor in anomaly detection. The proposed RRC will play a significant role for anomaly detection in the present and future sensor network society

Estimated influence of stratospheric activity on the ionosphere according to measurements with ISTP SB RAS tools

We present the results of a comprehensive study of the manifestation of wave activity with periods of internal gravity waves (IGW) in various regions of the atmosphere: in the stratosphere, upper mesosphere, and in the F2-region of the ionosphere. The study is based on radiophysical and spectrometric measurements made with tools of the Institute of Solar-Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) SB RAS and the Era-Interim reanalysis data. The correlation coefficient with time shift between ionospheric and stratospheric activity for the annual interval varies in the range from 0.45 to 0.54, and for the 27-day interval it reaches the levels 0.4–0.8 in seventy percent of the cases. Thirty percent of correlation coefficients less than 0.4 can be explained by the influence of neutral wind, geomagnetic activity, and non-stratospheric IGW sources. Comparison between stratospheric activity and variations in characteristics of traveling ionospheric disturbances (TID) has shown that a ~15 day shift in stratospheric activity results in a fairly high correlation between stratospheric activity and disturbance of IGW characteristics (~0.6). The delay of about 15 days can be attributed to the delay in the temperature variations at heights of the lower thermosphere relative to the temperature variations at the altitude pressure level of 1 hPa. Comparative analysis of variations in mesospheric and ionospheric activity has revealed time intervals when their behavior is consistent.

Estimated influence of stratospheric activity on the ionosphere according to measurements with ISTP SB RAS tools

We present the results of a comprehensive study of the manifestation of wave activity with periods of internal gravity waves (IGW) in various regions of the atmosphere: in the stratosphere, upper mesosphere, and in the F2-region of the ionosphere. The study is based on radiophysical and spectrometric measurements made with tools of the Institute of Solar-Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) SB RAS and the Era-Interim reanalysis data. The correlation coefficient with time shift between ionospheric and stratospheric activity for the annual interval varies in the range from 0.45 to 0.54, and for the 27-day interval it reaches the levels 0.4–0.8 in seventy percent of the cases. Thirty percent of correlation coefficients less than 0.4 can be explained by the influence of neutral wind, geomagnetic activity, and non-stratospheric IGW sources. Comparison between stratospheric activity and variations in characteristics of traveling ionospheric disturbances (TID) has shown that a ~15 day shift in stratospheric activity results in a fairly high correlation between stratospheric activity and disturbance of IGW characteristics (~0.6). The delay of about 15 days can be attributed to the delay in the temperature variations at heights of the lower thermosphere relative to the temperature variations at the altitude pressure level of 1 hPa. Comparative analysis of variations in mesospheric and ionospheric activity has revealed time intervals when their behavior is consistent.

Temporal Gene Expression in Apical Culms Shows Early Changes in Cell Wall Biosynthesis Genes in Sugarcane

Multiple genes in sugarcane control sucrose accumulation and the biosynthesis of cell wall components; however, it is unclear how these genes are expressed in its apical culms. To better understand this process, we sequenced mRNA from +1 stem internodes collected from four genotypes with different concentrations of soluble solids. Culms were collected at four different time points, ranging from six to 12-month-old plants. Here we show differentially expressed genes related to sucrose metabolism and cell wall biosynthesis, including genes encoding invertases, sucrose synthase and cellulose synthase. Our results showed increased expression of invertases in IN84-58, the genotype with lower sugar and higher fiber content, as well as delayed expression of secondary cell wall-related cellulose synthase for the other genotypes. Interestingly, genes involved with hormone metabolism were differentially expressed across time points in the three genotypes with higher soluble solids content. A similar result was observed for genes controlling maturation and transition to reproductive stages, possibly a result of selection against flowering in sugarcane breeding programs. These results indicate that carbon partitioning in apical culms of contrasting genotypes is mainly associated with differential cell wall biosynthesis, and may include early modifications for subsequent sucrose accumulation. Co-expression network analysis identified transcription factors related to growth and development, showing a probable time shift for carbon partitioning occurred in 10-month-old plants.